Everyone has a unique and personal connection to their home, past or present. It’s where love, loss, laughter, and many of life’s biggest moments happen, and these universal themes guide the narrative of “HERE,” a new film by Robert Zemeckis starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Richard McGuire, “HERE” tells the expansive yet intimate story of many generations over a broad period of time and the unique place they inhabit.

So what if audiences could not only watch the movie but experience its world? In support of the upcoming release of “Here” Sony Pictures created an interactive experience that allows each user to explore their own “Here” through customized immersive map experience. Using Google Maps Platform this campaign enables users to interact with real-world locations tied to their own lives and discover their own connection to the film’s themes on an immersive map.

Beyond fostering a deeper connection to cherished memories and places, the site also enables viewers to send personalized invites to friends and family to watch “HERE” in theaters as a group. Users even receive a personalized downloadable postcard reflecting their own personal "Here," which they can share on social media or save for themselves.

Bringing audiences together in the here and now

A Google Maps powered experience has the ability to foster meaningful connections between people, places, and community. With robust location data, customization capabilities, 3D Tiles, cross-platform accessibility, and reliable and scalable infrastructure, it delivers a personalized, resonant, and intimate location-centered experience.

The experience uses a standard React.js framework to create the site, which allows for a modular, flexible, and scalable architecture that is ideal for handling interactive user experiences. To enhance the site with location-based personalization and interactivity, the experience also integrates several Google Maps Platform products:

• Photorealistic 3D Tiles in the Map Tiles API: Photorealistic 3D Tiles in the Map Tiles API enhances the visual appeal of the map interface and offer users a more immersive experience. The realistic nature of Google’s high-resolution 3D imagery helps bridge the gap between digital mapping and real-world context, making the experience feel more grounded and visually engaging.

• Street View Service in the Maps Javascript API: Display static 360-degree images of specific locations, including the user’s home and their preferred theater to watch the movie. Embedding these panoramic images directly into the site, enhances the user's sense of place and personal connection to the experience.

• Place Autocomplete in the Maps Javascript API: The Autocomplete feature improves user input efficiency by suggesting locations as users typed in search fields. This reduces friction in the user journey, leading to smoother interactions when searching for places and creating personalized experiences.

• Geocoding API: The Geocoding API converts physical addresses into geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude), which is essential for plotting locations on the map and linking user-submitted data to real-world locations. This provides location-specific experiences, such as connecting the user's location to a historical or narrative context within the campaign.

The blended map approach transforms the viewing experience into an introspective and communal event, allowing audiences to connect the film's narrative and themes to their own lives and the history of the community they live in. By making their own surroundings part of the story, the significance of each participant’s personal “here” comes to life.

Connecting personal narratives to communal experiences

Through the experience the hope is for users to embrace the themes of home, family, and love as can be seen in the film. Google Maps Platform helps make this a reality by offering a powerful and flexible way to create immersive and personalized experiences. Whether it’s an interactive journey brought to life, a social collaboration across distances, or a tie-in at a film premiere, Google Maps Platform provides the technical and creative canvas to bring modern and inventive campaigns to life.

Miramax’s Here will be released in US theaters on November 1, 2024 via Sony Pictures/TriStar Pictures.

Learn more about creating your own immersive brand experiences with Google Maps Platform.